A strong wind blew across the grassy plains where the Guniran province stood. Of all of the habitable planets of creation the planet Kosiva was the most sparsely populated, yet one of the most beautiful. With mild climates across most of its land mass and its longer growing seasons, Kosiva remained as near a paradise as one could find among the habitable planets. And most important of all to the Guniran clansmen residing there, it spared them from the ravages of the war.
The province consisted of primarily small homes packed around a small metropolitan area. A number of larger structures stood among them including the Council Chambers for the province. For a small group of people, they had managed to fashion a peaceful and well manicured town.
The delegates from the Guniran council seated themselves inside the ornate council chambers located inside one of the larger two story buildings in the province. The delegates wore similar apparel, consisting of tan trousers and shirts with a long waist coat that opened in front below the waist, even when buttoned. The borders of the garments had been embellished with an intricate pattern of darker material. They wore brimless caps upon their heads and carried themselves like true politicians, which made Tiet uneasy.
Tiet had always been taught that politics tended to be a dirty sort of business with scheming and backstabbing usually taking place. He preferred open combat in a warrior's uniform with clearly defined enemies and a sturdy blade to the sort of dress he was made to wear today. Mirah had insisted that he dress formally for the meeting, since so much depended on its successful outcome. She had selected for him, a dark blue semi-formal suit purchased in one of the province's shops. Similar in style to the delegate's attire, Tiet didn't like it, but he was consenting so long as Wynn and Grod were made to wear the same. With dark wavy locks hanging on his high, tight collar and his olive skin, Tiet looked handsome in the attire but terribly uncomfortable. He would never be a politician.
Tiet, Wynn and Grod took their seats and a beverage was poured for each of them by a servant. "Thank you," Tiet said.
He picked up the wooden cup with its intricate carvings along the rim and took a sip-it tasted quite good, but he wasn't familiar with what it was.
"Gumji," one of the delegates said as he took a drink from his own cup.
"Excuse me?"
"Gumji. It is made from one of Kosiva's native plants. It has medicinal properties."
"Ah… my wife is a physician. She might be interested in knowing more about it."
The small talk grated on his nerves. Tiet wanted to get straight to the matter at hand. "Gentleman, now that you have consented to our staying near the province, I would like to discuss the possibility of enlisting some of your people to aid us in a permanent dwelling for our group," Tiet said.
"And what would you pay our laborers with?" asked one of the other delegates.
Tiet noticed a hint of sarcasm in the man's voice-he didn't look pleased to be meeting with them.
"I'm sure we could come to some sort of arrangement," Wynn said.
"The fact of the matter is you don't really have anything of value that we would be interested in," said a delegate named Onnell.
Clearly the small talk and pleasantries are over, Tiet thought.
"The only reason that we have consented to this meeting is because of Aija's influence," Onnell said.
"Who is this, Aija?" Tiet asked.
"He is the prophet of Elithias, the Eternal One," one of the other delegates replied. "He instructed us to meet with you, since you are the Barudii king."
"Well, that's fine," Tiet said. "So then why do we appear to have a problem if your prophet has told you to meet with us?"
"The problem, Master Soone, is that we know who you are," Onnell said. "We are afraid of the trouble that follows you."
"And what trouble might that be?" Grod asked. His deep voice filled the chamber when he spoke. His muscles looked as though they might burst out of the Guniran suit at any moment.
The delegates never acknowledged Grod's presence. Onnell continued speaking to Tiet. "You are the king that fought and defeated the army of the Baruk and now your planet is under the control of the same being that controlled their clan for so long. You barely escaped the planet with your lives."
"We are not warriors here," another delegate said. "We cannot fight an army if they come to Kosiva looking for you."
"I assure you, gentlemen, it is not our intention to place you and your people in danger. I am the Barudii king in the stead of my father. I returned from exile to avenge my fallen clan, but the time was right to form a rebellion against the Vorn, so we did so and we won. The Baruk answered this defeat of the Vorn with an attack on the twin Castai. It was only with General Grod's help that we were able to defeat the Baruk, but that is when their leader, this symbiotic creature, escaped and began a fifteen year assimilation of the population on Castai." Tiet explained. "We came to Kosiva on the run from this creature. What else could we do?"
"You see Councilmen," Grod said, his voice commanding their attention, "We had peace. This was all due to the efforts of the king. Tiet is not some war monger trying to bring the conflict to your planet. He made peace with me and my Horva brethren, recognizing our struggle for freedom. We, in turn, assisted him against the Baruk. It could not be helped that the creature escaped and later overran the twelve cities. We made every attempt to stop the takeover, but we were simply outnumbered."
"If I may, Councilmen," Wynn said-his voice more calm than the others. "Our way of escape from the planet is the key to the matter."
"I don't follow you," Onnell said.
"You see, we utilized General Grod's transgate portal technology, found only on our ship, the Equinox. It would be extremely unlikely that this creature would make any attempt to follow us and more importantly, it doesn't know where we have escaped to."
Tiet grew nervous. The fact remained that his own son carried one of the symbyte creatures inside his body.
"I understand your dilemma, Master Tiet, but please understand ours," Onnell said. "We are simple people, farmers and merchants. We came to Kosiva to escape the war. We wanted no part of it then and we want no part of it now. This province is all that we have."
"Perhaps we should just leave Kosiva altogether then," Tiet said in frustration. "We had hoped for peace ourselves, but it appears you're unwilling to grant our petition to stay among your people."
"We are not saying that you have to go," Onnell said. "Your suggestion might ultimately be the best solution, but we have been commanded by the prophet not to send you away. In fact, Aija himself desires to meet with you."
"Where is Aija then?"
"He lives on the mountain of Honnib. Aija has sent a messenger proclaiming his desires with regard to your group. He expects to meet with the Barudii king in approximately three months from now and he has instructed us to pay you the kindest hospitality. He claims it by the will of Elithias."
"Well, this is more like it," Tiet said under his breath looking sideways at Grod. "We would-"
Tiet's com-link pin beeped on his collar. "Yes." He spoke chin down toward the pin.
"Tiet, it's Kale!" Mirah said. She sounded almost hysterical.
"Mirah, what's wrong?"
"Kale-he's gone-he's run away through the transgate!"
"Calm down, Mirah, I'm on my way now," Tiet said. He stood to his feet addressing the Gunirans. "Gentlemen, I have an emergency-we'll have to continue this at a later time."
"But we have more details that must be worked out before we-"
"Wynn, Grod, if you wouldn't mind to stay and settle this, I need to get back to the ship and see what's happened."
"Of course," Wynn said. "Go on ahead and we will be along as soon as our business here is finished." Wynn had more experience with this type of situation. He remained measured in his speech, careful never to say more than needed saying and his neatly kept white hair and beard gave him a distinguished look that people respected naturally. Wynn could do this without him.
Tiet walked out of the council chambers. He tried not to get too excited. Maybe his son had simply gone somewhere without his mother realizing. He told himself that explanation, but he wasn't buying it.
The Gunirans had been kind enough to offer his group several animals for traveling after they had hiked into the province for the meeting. Tiet unfastened the reins of his leore and climbed into the saddle. The domesticated hoofed quadruped had a short fiery red coat with a blonde mane flowing down the back of its neck. Tiet turned the animal with a pull of the reins and goaded the leore's sides with his heels. They galloped away toward the outskirts of the province and their ship beyond.
When Kale stepped through the transgate portal onto the planet Draconis, he noticed that it had been raining. He traveled in a wooded area of mostly large trees with very low undergrowth. The cold rain drizzled on him as he walked. He quickly found himself in a miserable state hiking around in it, despite the black Barudii combat uniform he wore. Fortunately, his gear had been packed away in weather proof satchels.
At five foot nine, Kale looked every bit his father's son. He had dark neatly cropped hair-boyish version of his father's handsome features and wiry build.
Kale scouted around for nearly an hour before locating a suitable spot to set up camp. He pulled a small, one man inflatable tent from one of the packs and tapped the gas release valve. The tent inflated itself in the upright position within seconds and Kale moved himself and his belongings inside for the night.
The voice of the symbyte organism stayed with Kale-carried around inside his head so that he could not escape its call. It seemed masculine in nature, but inaudible. The organism's every piercing thought sent a shiver through his spine.
He awoke several hours later to find the rain abated and a cold wind blowing in its place. The tent remained anchored in place by gravity pulls and was in no danger of being uplifted. Kale moved out of his new home and stretched his body. The wind, though cold, still felt good to him.
It was already dark outside, but the twin moons in the sky, one full and the other half eclipsed, provided a great deal of light. He saw quite well already and his vision improved as he remained out in the night. The trees had lost much of their foliage. It must be fall season on this planet, he thought. Back home, spring had come, but this wasn't home-just a place to keep away from the ones he loved so they wouldn't be harmed if he lost control of the organism still struggling for dominance of his body.
In the distance, he saw what appeared to be lights-though not bright like electric lights. He reached back into his tent, into a satchel, and pulled out his uniform's data-lens. He put it on and zoomed in on the lights in the distance. Clearly they were lamp lights. He saw a small town, but the distance was a good twenty miles.
Kale decided to make the trek tomorrow beginning before dawn. By the afternoon, he hoped be arrive and pick up some supplies. He thought for a moment he heard something, but it wasn't an audible sound at all. Mentally he had heard something and it wasn't the voice of the symbyte either. He had grown very accustomed to that voice in his head now-single minded in its struggle for control.
This seemed as though he had heard the thoughts of another-someone or something intelligent nearby. He sensed it again, as clear as any real voice. He whirled around searching with all his senses for the source. Kale felt for a weapon with his mind. His Barudii blade remained sheathed just inside the tent door.
Kale saw a blur moving through the trees about ten feet above him thirty feet away. He followed its movements. Kale tried to gather data mentally on it as it moved, but it was difficult. It seemed to phase in and out of a purely physical form like nothing he had ever seen before.
It slowed and stopped, remaining perched on a branch closer to him now. The being's thoughts changed then and he sensed it. It wondered if Kale was listening to its thoughts. The being must have been telepathic to be able to pick up on what he was doing beyond just watching it. Then a question came from the being.
Do you hear me, my prey?
Kale scoffed at the prey reference, but decided to respond with a question of his own.
Who is the prey and who is the hunter?
The mysterious being responded quickly to Kale's thought. In a flash it flew out of the tree and ran along the ground to him. Kale waited only a fraction of a second then flipped over the attacker he approached. His blade flew to his hand from inside the tent door. He landed again with his back to the being. Kale turned, swiped the weapon at the humanoid form as he released the catch on the scabbard. The scabbard flew away by centrifugal force, but was deflected. The being stopped short as Kale ignited his blade.
"Who are you? You're not like the others?" the man asked.
"Are you asking out of fear or are you just reconsidering your choice of prey now?"
"I assure you, it's not fear, human."
He appeared human enough-puzzling Kale as to why he would use the reference as though he wasn't human. He dressed completely in black with pale skin suggesting he didn't get much sun, and his eyes were distinctly colored by a yellow iris with an inner red ring adjacent to the dilated pupil. He wore some form of metallic pendant on a leather band around his neck and stood straight with his arms and hands concealed within the loose almost robe-like garment.
Kale stood ready and stared at the being waiting for his next move. He stared back a moment longer and then tried to withdraw. Kale seized him with his mind startling the stranger.
"I didn't say you could go yet," Kale said.
The stranger tried to move again, unsuccessfully. Then he smiled slyly and within seconds his form faded almost to a mist and dissipated before Kale could react. He had somehow disassociated his form at the molecular level and Kale could hold him no longer.
Kale extinguished his blade and called for the scabbard to come to his hand. It obeyed and he sheathed the weapon and placed it on his back. Kale decided to pack up for the night and head out for the town. If he was going to have company, at least he could pick his own and hopefully the people living in the town would be more hospitable. He certainly wouldn't be able to close his eyes and sleep out here in the woods with that devilish looking stranger roaming around.
Kale stowed his gear and deflated his tent; packing it away neatly into the small satchel that protected it. My portable house, he thought. This is my home from now on. Kale missed his family already and he wondered if he had perhaps acted in haste. But the voice in his head-its presence running through his body-no, this was the only good choice for their safety.
The stirring of animals and the chirping of insects brought some comfort to him. When the ghostly figure had been nearby, everything animal had been silenced by their sense of danger and the instinct to survive. With their renewed activity, he felt assured, at least for the time being, that he was alone. With his camp packed away, Kale headed off through the tall timbers and undergrowth toward the flickering lamp light of the town below the mountain. It's going to be rough going without a path, he thought. Kale shook away the sleepiness and kept his senses alert to danger and steadily made his descent down the mountain in hopes he would find friendly faces when he reached the town by tomorrow.